Telephone service users, e.g., residential customers, families, sales people, small businesses, and individuals, have come to rely on the ability of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to provide a host of voice services including voice mail, telephone conferencing, call transfer, etc.
In order to provide enhanced telephone services, many telephone companies now implement a telephone communications network as an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) which has made it easier to provide a wide array of previously unavailable telephone services. In an AIN system, telephone central offices, each of which serves as a signal switching point (SSP), detect one of a number of call processing events identified as AIN “triggers”. An SSP which detects a trigger suspends processing of the call which activated the trigger, compiles a call data message and forwards that message via a common channel interoffice signaling (CCIS) link to a database system, such as a Service Control Point (SCP). The Signal System 7 (SS-7) protocol is normally used for forwarding such messages. The SCP may be implemented as part of an integrated service control point (ISCP). If needed, the SCP can instruct the central office SSP at which the AIN trigger was activated to obtain and forward additional information, e.g., information relating to the call. Once sufficient information about the call has reached the ISCP, the ISCP accesses stored call processing information or records (CPRs) to generate from the received message data, a call control message. The call control message is then used to instruct the central office on how to process the call which activated the AIN trigger.
As part of the call control message, an ISCP can instruct the central office to send the call to an outside resource, such as an intelligent peripheral (IP) using a send to outside resource (STOR) instruction. IPs are frequently coupled to SSPs to provide message announcement capabilities, voice recognition capabilities and other functionality which is not normally provided by the central office. The control message is normally communicated from the ISCP to the SSP handling the call via the CCIS/SS-7 link. Once received, the SSP completes the call in accordance with the instructions received in the control message.
One service which could use improvement is voice mail for residential customers or small businesses who do not have a PBX user capability. When a family member answers a phone call that is not intended for them and the requested party is not at home or does not wish to be disturbed, the calling individual may wish to leave a message for the requested individual. The person who answered the phone can either write down the message, memorize the message or tell the calling party to hang-up, recall and then allow the call to go unanswered thus resulting in the call going to voice mail, e.g., an answering service, assuming the family subscribes to a voice mail service.
If the message was written down, it may be illegible or include errors. If the message was memorized, some or all of the content may be forgotten or distorted. The person recording the message must relay the message to the intended individual either by leaving it in a location where he hopes the intended individual will find it or by attempting to contact the intended individual by some other means, for example, paging or E-mail. Requiring the calling party to hang-up, recall, and then allowing the call to go unanswered thus transferring to voice mail is inconvenient and may incur additional cost. In view of the above discussion, it is clear that a need exists for a better product, e.g., service, for residential users and small businesses which would allow answered phone calls, intended for a different recipient, to be directed to the voice mailbox for the intended individual. It is desirable that any new service be capable of being implemented without the need for special equipment or a PBX at the customer's premise.